Why are you into Politics? (party affiliation, party, election, elect)

[tangodoodles]

Originally Posted by rickers

What a wonderful guy ! Likes to argue for fun, and in the last four or five posts you have made you have called people names. I'll list some of the names you have called people today;

stupid,
sheep,
rabid retards,
slugs,
weasel,
fatboy

I certainly don't need to use juvenile name calling to get my opinion heard.

Ew, don't be a stalker.

[Ridgewalker]

Why am I into politics? I'm not, I hate the topic but fear the liberals are doing their best to give the country away so I am doing my best to prevent same.

[tangodoodles]

My parents have always been into politics (were registered Republicans but voted for Obama and are re-registering as Democrats) but I didn't get interested until I was 14, before the 2004 election. My cousin came out as gay so I wanted to support him and there were lots of proposals for gay marriage bans around that time so I knew right away that I wasn't a Republican. So the gay marriage issue was the first reason I became interested in politics and then I guess I just started reading the news a lot and trying to formulate my own opinions on different issues. I was definitely pissed when Bush was supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment and was paying people to write favorable opinions of the proposal. Oh, I was also upset when I read about the lies spread about John McCain and his daughter during the 2000 election and I was upset by the appalling Swift Boat Vets for "Truth" campaign against John Kerry. I guess I just became interested in politics at a time when the Republican Party was in such a bad state that I would never consider supporting it. A party beholden to the Religious Right is a scary thing indeed.

[rickers]

My father was a gay republican and a doctor all of his life. He served in the navy and in the marine corps. I consider myself to be a "Conservative Libertarian" Not very religious and not all that into politics. The reason I feel the need to at least follow politics and keep up to date on local as well as world news issues is because our system only works well when the voters are informed. Obama will be much like all other presidents. He will do some things I will approve of and some things that I will spit on the floor and cuss over. Out with the old bum and in with the new bum !

[TnHilltopper]

Well poli meaning "many" and tics meaning "blood sucking parasitic mite" I like to consider myself an exterminator of sorts. Helping rid our house (America) of the bad bugs and while at the same time trying to encourage a healthy symbiosis with the good bugs, as they can be quite beneficial.

[mackinac81]

Originally posted by LauraC
Political debate is a sport that doesn't require knee surgery after a couple of years.

Political debate is a sport where everyone goes home thinking they're the winner.

Political debate online brings no age, sex, race, income, disability, etc., discrimination among the contestants. A black guy in a wheelchair or a white woman athlete, a 14 year old girl or an 85 year old retiree, a rich CEO or a welfare queen, a college professor or a high school drop, all can jump right in and start sparring with each other on equal footing without their opponent dismissing them on sight for not being their kind of people.

Personally, I like the sitting down in my pajamas part of the sport of political debate.

Excellent summary. I feel much the same way

[mackinac81]

Originally posted by rickers
My father was a gay republican and a doctor all of his life. He served in the navy and in the marine corps. I consider myself to be a "Conservative Libertarian" Not very religious and not all that into politics. The reason I feel the need to at least follow politics and keep up to date on local as well as world news issues is because our system only works well when the voters are informed. Obama will be much like all other presidents. He will do some things I will approve of and some things that I will spit on the floor and cuss over. Out with the old bum and in with the new bum !

You're very right. An informed populace = healthy Democracy. I feel it's almost my civic duty to read up on issues and form opinions. Besides, I like doing it.

[GregW]

I like to discuss current and historical politics, because it is the way most of can discuss our points of view without resorting to outright dueling.

I have though about the intersection of politics and economics a great deal. I have concluded that functioning free markets require political protection to prevent the domination of the market by individual and group monopolists. I believe that individual freedom is best served by socialist economics, including progressive taxes based on income, that level the playing field so the individuals can compete for opportunity on an equal basis. Rich and stupid should not outweigh poor and brilliant.

I believe in a Democratic Republic that minds its own international business and does not try and reform the world with violence. I am equally opposed to feudalism, tyranny and empire but it is not our job to change these things but to provide an example of a more effective and prosperous system.

To sum my positions I am, in many ways, a libertarian socialist. I call that a liberal.

[old_cold]

I don't enjoy the topic at all and had hoped to have reached the age and situation to become solidly apathetic.....let somebody else do the thinking/worrying.
The last couple of years has dictated staying abreast as much as possible just in order to try to avoid making some serious-to-fatal economic mistakes.......at least no more than were already made by not paying attention soone nough
It's funny that doom & gloomers now are still being made a lot of fun of.
But if we had paid attention to the financial doom & gloomers of a few years back, many of us would have not lost any...or, at least, not as much....of our savings/investments

[whatever you want]

Originally Posted by rickers

My father was a gay republican and a doctor all of his life. He served in the navy and in the marine corps. I consider myself to be a "Conservative Libertarian" Not very religious and not all that into politics. The reason I feel the need to at least follow politics and keep up to date on local as well as world news issues is because our system only works well when the voters are informed. Obama will be much like all other presidents. He will do some things I will approve of and some things that I will spit on the floor and cuss over. Out with the old bum and in with the new bum !

It ALWAYS comes down to the lesser of two evils anymore IMO.....It shouldn't be that way tho'